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Optimism on Iraq Slips in New Poll 6/30/03
Most Americans still say things are going at least fairly well in Iraq, but the number who think things are going badly has tripled since early May, a new poll says.... Almost four in 10 say they believe the Bush administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.... More than half, 53 percent, say it would matter a great deal to them if they became convinced the Bush administration deliberately misled the public on that subject.
Ten Appalling Lies We Were Told About Iraq from AlterNet, 6/27/03
What follows are just the most outrageous and significant of the dozens of outright lies uttered by Bush and his top officials over the past year in what amounts to a systematic campaign to scare the bejeezus out of everybody:
Iraq: Everyone Now Needs Food Aid 6/30/03
Before the war that the U.S. and Britain launched March 20 to remove the Saddam Hussein regime, 60 percent of the population had depended entirely on food aid. "Today, the lives of 100 percent of the Iraqi population, 27 million people, depend on the provision of monthly food rations," UNICEF chief representative in Iraq Carel de Roy told IPS in a phone interview.
Amnesty International: U.S. Iraqi Detentions Violate Law 6/30/03
Amnesty International said Monday it has gathered evidence that points to U.S. violations of international law by subjecting Iraqi prisoners to "cruel, inhuman or degrading" conditions at its detention centers here.
Who Lost the WMD? from Time, 6/29/03
Turning to his Baghdad proconsul, Paul Bremer, Bush asked, "Are you in charge of finding WMD?" Bremer said no, he was not. Bush then put the same question to his military commander, General Tommy Franks. But Franks said it wasn't his job either. A little exasperated, Bush asked, So who is in charge of finding WMD? [He doesn't know!?!]
Bush Misled US Into Iraq War--An Official Finding? from The Nation, 6/26/03
On June 25, during the House debate on the intelligence authorization bill, [Jane] Harman[, the ranking democrat on the House intelligence committee,] delivered an informal progress report on her committee's inquiry. Her remarks received, as far as I can tell, little media attention. But they are dramatic in that these comments are the first quasi-findings from an official outlet confirming that Bush deployed dishonest rhetoric in guiding the United States to invasion and occupation in Iraq.
U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Passes 200: BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- After days of intense searching by ground and air, U.S. forces on Saturday found the bodies of two soldiers missing north of Baghdad, as the toll of American dead since the start of war topped the grim milestone of 200. Also Saturday, British forces were greeted peacefully as they returned to a southern Shiite town where six of their troops were killed in clashes. And the U.S. military announced small rebuilding projects, ranging from the delivery of school and medical supplies to the restoration of power and water in several Iraqi towns.
Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead In Baghdad: BAGHDAD, June 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq for three days after apparently being abducted were found dead Saturday, June 28, some 35 kilometers northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an American military spokesman said. "The bodies of two soldiers who were missing since June 25 were recovered," Lieutenant Colonel Martin Compton told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Occupation Forces Halt Elections Throughout Iraq: SAMARRA, Iraq (Washington Post) -- U.S. military commanders have ordered a halt to local elections and self-rule in provincial cities and towns across Iraq, choosing instead to install their own handpicked mayors and administrators, many of whom are former Iraqi military leaders. The decision to deny Iraqis a direct role in selecting municipal governments is creating anger and resentment among aspiring leaders and ordinary citizens, who say the U.S.-led occupation forces are not making good on their promise to bring greater freedom and democracy to a country dominated for three decades by Saddam Hussein.
Cheney And The CIA: Not Business As Usual 6/27/03
As though this were normal! I mean the repeated visits Vice President Dick Cheney made to the CIA before the war in Iraq. The visits were, in fact, unprecedented. During my 27-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, no vice president ever came to us for a working visit.
The Fact That Hussein's Gone Doesn't Make Lying Right
There was a time when the sickness of the political far left could best be defined by the rationale that the ends justified the means.... Unfortunately, junior Machiavellis claiming to wear the white hat still are running amok among us. This time, however, they are on the right, apologists for the Bush administration arguing that noble ends justify deceitful means.
Weapon of Mass Deception from AlterNet, 6/27/03
What the Pentagon doesn't want us to know about depleted uranium.
The Specter Of Vietnam by Howard Zinn, 6/26/03
What was not talked about publicly at the time of the Vietnam War was something said secretly in intra-governmental memoranda -- that the interest of the United States in Southeast Asia was not the establishment of democracy, but the protection of access to the oil, tin and rubber of that region. In the Iraqi case, the obvious crucial role of oil in U.S. policy has been whisked out of sight, lest it reveal less than noble motives in the drive to war.
4 Dead, 2 Abducted in Iraq Ambushes 6/26/03
Bomb and grenade ambushes and hostile fire Thursday killed two American soldiers and two Iraq civilians, signaling increased anti-American resistance in Iraq despite U.S. claims of mopping up opposition. Two American soldiers also were apparently abducted.
Distorted Intelligence? 6/25/03
Secret German records cast doubt on the Saddam-Al Qaeda connection. Plus, why Qatar is footing the legal bills for an ‘enemy combatant.'
Interview with a 27-Year CIA Veteran from Truthout, 6/26/03
[T]o watch what is going on now, and to see George Tenet... sit behind Colin Powell at the UN, to see him give up and shade the intelligence and cave in when his analysts have been slogging through the muck for a year and a half trying to tell it like it is, that is very demoralizing, and actually very infuriating.
I Never Promised You a Ruse Garden -- A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush 6/26/03
Your blatant refusal to NOT back up your verbal deception with the kind of fake evidence we have become used to is a slap in our collective American face. It's as if you are saying, "These Americans are so damn apathetic and lazy, we won't have to produce any weapons to back up our claims!"
Weapons inspector: «Powell bluffed the UN» 6/26/03
Siljeholm spent 100 days in Iraq from December 2002 to March 2003 without finding weapons of mass destruction. The weapon inspector still believes there are chemical or biological weapons in Iraq, but not enough to represent a threat.
Too Many Lies, Too Little Outrage from AlterNet, 6/26/03
Recent leaks of highly classified intelligence information are a clear signal to the American people that many government experts felt that intelligence was manipulated to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Yet the public so far seems complacent to bask in the "patriotic" glow of the battlefield victory over Iraq.
State Department Disputes CIA View of Trailers as Labs 6/26/03
The State Department's intelligence division is disputing the Central Intelligence Agency's conclusion that mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making biological weapons, United States government officials said today. (Also see Iraqi mobile labs nothing to do with germ warfare, report finds 6/15/03).
RIAA's Rosen 'writing Iraq copyright laws': (The Register) Chief executive for the Recording Industry Association of America, Hilary Rosen, is helping draft copyright legislation for the New Iraq, according to investigative journalist Gregory Palast. "Who's really going to win this war? It looks like Madonna," Palast told Democracy Now radio. "Where before, they feared Saddam Hussein, now they have to fear Sony Records will chop off their hands if they bootleg a Madonna album."
THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR: The First Casualty from The New Republic, 6/19/03
How the Bush administration grossly exaggerated Iraq's nuclear program and its ties to Al Qaeda.
Denial and Deception by Paul Krugman, 6/24/03
There is no longer any serious doubt that Bush administration officials deceived us into war. The key question now is why so many influential people are in denial, unwilling to admit the obvious.
Expert Said to Tell Legislators He Was Pressed to Distort Some Evidence 6/25/03
A top State Department expert on chemical and biological weapons told Congressional committees in closed-door hearings last week that he had been pressed to tailor his analysis on Iraq and other matters to conform with the Bush administration's views, several Congressional officials said today.
Coalition Suffers a Deadly Day as 6 British Soldiers Are Killed 6/24/03
In the first serious attack on British troops since the end of major hostilities in Iraq, six soldiers were killed and several others injured in two "serious incidents" north of Basra in southern Iraq, the Defense Ministry here said today.
The Road to Coverup Is the Road to Ruin Senator Robert Byrd on the floor of the US Senate, 6/24/03
Congress should begin immediately an investigation into the intelligence that was presented to the American people about the pre-war estimates of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and the way in which that intelligence might have been misused. This is no time for a timid Congress. We have a responsibility to act in the national interest and protect the American people.
Greenpeace Says "Frightening" Radioactivity in Iraqi Villages 6/24/03
During a week-long survey, Greenpeace said it had uncovered radioactivity in a number of buildings, including one source measuring 10,000 times above normal and another, outside a 900-pupil primary school, measuring 3,000 times above normal. Locals were still storing radioactive barrels and lids in their houses, several objects carrying radioactive symbols lie discarded in the community, and there are "consistent and repeated stories of unusual sickness after coming into contact with material from the Tuwaitha plant," the statement said.
Iraqis Grapple With Fears Of Israeli Infiltration: BAGHDAD, June 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -- Reports were rife in the Iraqi capital Baghdad that Israeli companies and intelligence elements were being housed in the famous Baghdad Hotel which was rented by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some American reconstruction firms. "We were surprised that some people rented the whole hotel and were later told they were from the CIA and that the building would be devoted for them and other accompanying agents," a hotel employee told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, June 24, on condition of anonymity.
U.S. Criticized on Iraq Weapons Evidence by Hans Blix: UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix criticized the United States for insisting so vehemently that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and not producing the evidence. The failure of U.S.-led teams to find illegal weapons after more than two months of searching and visits to over 230 suspected sites has become a major issue. Saddam Hussein's possession of banned weapons was the main justification the United States and Britain used for invading Iraq. "It is sort of puzzling I think that you can have 100 percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction's existence, and zero certainty about where they are," he said. "We were more prudent in our assessment and I think that was shown to be pretty wise."
U.N. Says That Palestinians Evicted From Baghdad: (IBN) GENEVA - Thousands of Palestinians have been evicted from their homes in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein, who gave them asylum and cheap rents, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday. Kris Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said that landlords in Baghdad have ordered some 800 families — or about 4,000 people — from their homes since May. Two hundred more families have been given notice to leave their apartments when their children finish their high school exams later this month.
Slaughtergate by William Rivers Pitt, from Truthout, 6/23/03
If the casualty rate of 1.21 per day continues, we can expect 228 more dead American soldiers by Christmas. Why?
Where Are WMDs? Where's Congress? by Dick Meyer, from CBS News, 6/20/03
The WMD-Gate Inquisition has begun not with a bang but a whisper. There will not be a credible, serious investigation of the spies, the Bush Hawks, the WMDs and the war without some big bangs. Will that happen? Will Congress cop out? I can’t say it’s looking good.
Aftermath Of War Not Exactly An Eye For An Eye from The San Francisco Chronicle, 6/23/03
Besides not surveying all of the country's hospitals, the AP found that death records were far from complete.... Still, the surveyors confirmed the deaths of at least 3,240 civilians. Other investigators have arrived at much greater figures.
Burned Iraqi Children Turned Away By US Army Doctors 6/23/03
On a scorching afternoon, while on duty at an Army airfield, Sgt. David J. Borell was approached by an Iraqi who pleaded for help for his three children, burned when they set fire to a bag containing explosive powder left over from war in Iraq.
Officials: Hundreds of Iraqis Killed By Faulty Grenades 6/23/03
Hundreds and possibly thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed or maimed by outdated, defective U.S. cluster weapons that lack a safety feature other countries have added, according to observers, news reports and officials.
Iraq: Arabs Challenge U.S. Plans to Open Nation to Multinationals 6/23/03
"What we want to see is an Iraqi government, call it provisional, call it temporary. We want to deal with an Iraqi government," he said. "This is not criticism of the U.S. Please listen to us--we want to help, Iraq is an Arab state and we are concerned."
Anarchy Engulfs the New Iraq from The Sunday Herald, 6/22/03
The war ended 10 weeks ago, but neither peace nor freedom prevail as the US struggles to keep control.
US general condemns Iraq failures from The Observer, 6/22/03
One of the most experienced and respected figures in a generation of American warfare and peacekeeping yesterday accused the US administration of 'failing to prepare for the consequences of victory' in Iraq.
Report Cast Doubt on Iraq-Al Qaeda Connection from The Washington Post, 6/22/03
A still-classified national intelligence report circulating within the Bush administration... portrayed a far less clear picture about the link between Iraq and al Qaeda than the one presented by the president, according to U.S. intelligence analysts and congressional sources who have read the report.
U.S. Enlists More Countries in Iraq, at Taxpayers' Expense 6/22/03
When the Pentagon proudly announced last week that more and more countries have been signing up to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq, one fact drew little attention: U.S. taxpayers will be paying a fair chunk of the bill.
Powerless Iraqis rail against ignorant, air-conditioned US occupation force from The Independent, 6/22/03
Few Iraqis mourn the fall of Saddam but there is a growing, at times almost visceral, hatred of the occupation.
A Survey of Projects Counting Civilians Killed by the War in Iraq: At the outset of the Iraq War, Iraq Body Count was providing the only systematic estimates of civilian casualties. Now, 15 different projects are at varying stages of completion. Press reports increasingly cite data from more than one project, and critical comparisons are becoming necessary. This article critically reviews all projects that have made their existence known publicly, and summarises key project details in tabular form. Taken together, the projects reinforce rather than contradict one another and provide converging evidence that current estimates putting the number of civilians killed at significantly above 5,000 are well-founded. These projects have already informed immediate humanitarian efforts, and when complete, can feed into strategic considerations about the costs of modern warfare. Given the importance of estimating the civilian costs, it is surprising that no national or supra-national agency has yet contributed to this work. POSTER'S NOTE: You should check out the following site to get an idea on the counting of Iraqi civilian deaths since the war started.
Urban guerrilla warfare belatedly emerges in Iraq: (globalsecurity.org) A worried America turns on the evening news each night to hear that more American troops have died. The troops themselves complain of fatigue fighting in a hot, hostile land where their role and objectives are unclear. And the war's justification is increasingly questioned at home. In recent days, some critics have begun suggesting haunting parallels between the ongoing war in Iraq and the early stages of the Vietnam war. They point to the rising number of soldiers dying in guerrilla-style attacks and the expanding estimate of the war's cost and duration. On Capitol Hill this week, two senior Pentagon officials declined to dispute lawmakers' estimates that the conflict could continue for more than a decade at a cost of $3 billion a month. Hawks in Congress and the administration downplay the hit-and-run attacks, the restiveness of the Iraqi people and the continuing problems restoring Iraq's drinking water, electricity and economy. Negative talk, they say, plays into the hands of pro-Saddam Hussein forces by undermining political support here for the war effort in Iraq.
Attacks In Iraq Traced to Network: (The Washington Post) FALLUJAH, Iraq, June 21 -- Groups of armed fighters from the Baath Party and security agencies of ousted president Saddam Hussein have organized a loose network called the Return with the aim of driving U.S. forces out of the country, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. The officials said the group is partially responsible for the string of fatal attacks on American soldiers in recent weeks. The intensified resistance has been reinforced by the participation of foreign fighters coming into Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator of Iraq, told reporters at a conference in Jordan today. "We do see signs of outside involvement in a number of ways," he said. Bremer said that "we so far don't see signs of command and control in these attacks," adding that it appears largely to be small groups of five to 10 people.
Iraqi Ex-Soldiers To Be Paid, Pipelines Attacked Again: BAGHDAD, June 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S.-led coalition announced Monday, June23 , that it would pay the salaries of as many as 250 , 000former Iraqi soldiers as an ultimatum from demobilized troops prompted a policy U-turn amid growing post-war violence. U.S. and British officials had insisted that Iraqi soldiers would receive just a single month's severance payment after the occupation administration dissolved all Iraqi security and armed forces last month.
U.S. Soldiers In Iraq 'Had Enough,' Want To Go Home: FALLUJAH, Iraq, June 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Coming under apparently non-stop resistance operations and feeling homesickness after being away from home for months, U.S. soldiers in Iraq want now to go home and on their feet and not shrouded in coffins, telling themselves "enough is enough." "I think I had enough. It's time for us to go home," said Private First Class Joe Cruz,18 , from the Second Brigade of the Army's Third Infantry Division in Fallujah, 50 kilometers ( 30miles) west of Baghdad, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
U.S. troops may be in Iraq for 10 years from USA Today, 6/19/03
Two top U.S. defense officials signaled Congress on Wednesday that U.S. forces might remain in Iraq for as long as a decade and that permanent facilities need to be built to house them there.
Saving Private Jessica from The New York Times, 6/20/03
It looks as if the first accounts of the rescue were embellished, like the imminent threat from W.M.D., and like wartime pronouncements about an uprising in Basra and imminent defections of generals. There's a pattern: we were misled.
Media Silent on Clark's 9/11 Comments: Gen. says White House pushed Saddam link without evidence from Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, 6/20/03
Former General Wesley Clark told anchor Tim Russert that Bush administration officials had engaged in a campaign to implicate Saddam Hussein in the September 11 attacks--starting that very day. Clark said that he'd been called on September 11 and urged to link Baghdad to the terror attacks, but declined to do so because of a lack of evidence.
Senate Panel Strikes Deal on Inquiry Into Iraq Arms Intelligence: No 'Investigation' to Take Place from The New York Times, 6/21/03
In effect, the compromise calls for the Republicans to agree to conduct a review, through the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, while the Democrats agree not to call it an investigation.
Now Bush Says Iraqi Weapons Sites Were Looted from Reuters, 6/21/03
President Bush, trying again to explain the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, said on Saturday that suspected arms sites had been looted in the waning days of Saddam Hussein's rule.
The Man Who Told Richard Nixon That There Was a Cancer on His Presidency from BuzzFlash, 6/17/03
John Dean Talks to BuzzFlash.com About George W. Bush, Watergate, Evidence of Misconduct and Possible Impeachment.
Reason to Deceive: WMD Lies Could Be the New Watergate from The Village Voice
Not only have President Bush and his administration exaggerated the evidence that Iraq had WMD, but now that news of their lies has leaked out, the pro-war camp is spinning like mad. The odds of exposing a major cover-up are looking very good indeed.
Soldiers 'will create cycle of revenge' from The London Evening Standard, 6/20/03
MPs from across the political spectrum today reacted with shock and concern to revelations that trigger-happy US troops in Iraq regularly kill civilians.
'I just pulled the trigger' from The London Evening Standard, 6/19/03
"There's a picture of the World Trade Center hanging up by my bed and I keep one in my Kevlar [flak jacket]. Every time I feel sorry for these people I look at that. I think, 'They hit us at home and, now, it's our turn.' I don't want to say payback but, you know, it's pretty much payback."
Villagers split over Saddam, their tribe's most famous son: As American troops step up their hunt for Saddam Hussein after the capture of his closest aide, people in his home village of al-Awja, overlooking the Tigris north of Baghdad, view the fate of their most famous son with mixed feelings. On the wall of the gatehouse to Saddam's local palace somebody has written: "It is your house Saddam and it will always flourish and we will guard it for ever." Elsewhere there are many slogans painted on walls. One reads: "After you, Saddam, we became slaves."But al-Awja is not a stronghold of pro-Saddam loyalists. Many of the 1,000 people suffered during his long reign or drew no benefit from living in the village where the former Iraqi leader was born in 1937. Sheikh Ahmad Ghazi, the leader of the Albu Nasir tribe into which Saddam was born, said it was difficult to explain to Americans, and even Iraqis, that while some of his tribe flourished others were persecuted. He said: "He killed my own brother in 1995."
Saddam loyalists put bounty on U.S. troops: Saddam Hussein loyalists have put a bounty on the heads of American troops in Iraq in a loosely organized resistance movement that, while killing U.S. troops, is "insignificant" to the overall military mission, a top commander said yesterday. A mission success came yesterday as U.S. Central Command announced the capture of one of the closest advisers to Saddam who may shed light on the ousted dictator's fate. The command nabbed Abid Hamid Mahmud, Saddam's presidential secretary and his gatekeeper for Iraqis seeking an audience. Mahmud, a distant cousin to Saddam, also served as national security adviser and a bodyguard. He is the ace of diamonds in Central Command's deck of cards of the most-wanted Iraqis.
War poll uncovers fact gap from The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/14/03
A third of the American public believes U.S. forces have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll. Twenty-two percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons. But such weapons have not been found in Iraq and were not used.
Iraq: From Liberation to Counter-Insurgency in Less Than 80 Days 6/18/03
It is clear that the 10 weeks of chaos that followed the collapse of Hussein's government in early April have taken a serious toll on U.S. hopes that Iraqis, either out of fear and awe of Washington's military might or out of gratitude, would simply do what they were told by their liberators.
Impeachable Offense by Geov Parrish, from Seattle Weekly, 6/18/03
FINALLY, AND FAR too late, national media are discovering that the Bush administration's case for invading Iraq was a combination of willfully gross exaggerations and flat-out lies.
Pentagon admits Iraq guerrilla war from The Financial Times, 6/19/03
US forces are waging a "guerrilla war" in Iraq where elements of the former regime inflict casualties almost daily, Paul Wolfowitz, deputy defence secretary said on Wednesday.
Iraqis Were Set to Vote, but U.S. Wielded a Veto 6/19/03
For now, American officials are barring direct elections in Iraq and limiting free speech, two of the very ideals the United States has promised to Iraqis.
Dean: Investigate Bush Statements on Iraq 6/18/03
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean on Tuesday called for an independent investigation of President Bush and his justification for the U.S.-led war against Iraq, arguing that the commander in chief misled the country.
Kerry Says Bush Misled Americans on War 6/18/03
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday that President Bush broke his promise to build an international coalition against Iraq's Saddam Hussein and then waged a war based on questionable intelligence.
British official warns of chaos in Iraq from The Independent, 6/17/03
In the face of growing hostility from pro-Saddam Hussein militias, one defence source told The Times that the 17,000-strong force of British soldiers in Iraq may have to stay in place for as long as four years.
Ex UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook Denies Saddam was Threat from The Guardian, 6/17/03
Former foreign secretary Robin Cook today dealt a series of devastating blows to the government's case for a war against Iraq, saying that it was "now clear that Saddam Hussein did not represent a 'clear and serious threat'".
US Senator Accuses CIA Chief of Discrepancies Over Iraq Intelligence 6/17/03
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Central Intelligence Agency failed to provide a complete list of suspected Iraqi weapons sites to UN weapons inspectors, although Tenet made public statements saying it had.
U.S. Account of Fallujah Killings Contradicted by Rights Group from OneWorld News, 6/17/03
A major U.S. human rights group charged Tuesday that the account given by the U.S. military of two protests that resulted in the deaths of 20 Iraqi demonstrators appears to be incorrect.
Iraq Occupation Has Deadly Toll for US 6/16/03
Fifty-six US troops have died in Iraq since the fall of Tikrit nearly nine weeks ago, and the majority of those deaths have come in the past six weeks - after President Bush's May 1 speech declaring that invasion operations had ended.
Many Iraqis in the Triangle Say They've Had Enough of America's Help 6/16/03
Ahmed Manaa's face was dark with anger. He was tired of the U.S. troops rumbling up and down his city's streets in their big tanks, pointing their guns at passing cars.
Iraq 'has three weeks to avoid falling into chaos' from The Independent, 6/16/03
Iraq needs a transitional administration within three weeks if it is to avoid a descent into chaos, the most prominent Iraqi leader acceptable to all sides told The Independent last night.
U.S. Troops Accused of Excessive Force: BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers used excessive force when they shot and killed 20 protesters and wounded almost 90 others in the restive city of Fallujah, according to a report by a human rights group that calls for a U.S. investigation into the two April shootings.
Soldiers Frisking Women Alarms Iraqis: BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. security concerns have clashed with Iraq's traditional culture in a potentially volatile flap over American men frisking Iraqi women. The practice is not widespread, and the Americans say they use it only as a last resort. But tales of such incidents - and television footage of a male American soldier patting down a chador-clad Iraqi woman - have sparked outrage in Iraq.
US Army Delays Replacing Halliburton No-Bid Iraq Contract: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Halliburton Co.'s (HAL) no-bid work to revive Iraq's oil industry is likely to last longer than originally estimated, the U.S. Army has acknowledged, and the cost to the government has more than doubled in the past month.
Iraq’s Top Shiite Scholar Favors Civil Jihad: BEIRUT, June 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Iraq’s supreme Shiite authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani exhorted the Iraqi people to resort to "civil Jihad" against the American occupation, his secretary Hamid al-Khaffaf told IslamOnline.net.
U.S.-led occupation in Iraq called 'stumbling block' to entrepreneurs: A Washington-based merchant banker who just returned from Baghdad, where he invested $1 million in several new businesses, says the U.S.-led occupation authority has become an obstacle to private entrepreneurs with the cash, ideas and expertise to quickly rebuild Iraq.
Covert Unit Hunted for Iraqi Arms: A covert Army Special Forces unit, operating in Iraq since before the war began in March, has played a dominant but ultimately unsuccessful role in the Bush administration's stymied hunt for weapons of mass destruction, according to military and intelligence sources in Baghdad and Washington.
A Guide to Understanding the U.S. Military Occupation: The following is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about Iraq and US foreign policy written by the Washington Post.
Two Killed When U.S. Troops Fire on Iraqi Demonstrators: BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed an American soldier and wounded another in a hit-and-run shooting at a Baghdad propane gas station Wednesday, and U.S. troops opened fire on a demonstration outside coalition headquarters in the capital, killing two protesters.
Who's Accountable? by Paul Krugman, from Truthout, 6/10/03
Last fall former U.S. intelligence officials began warning that official pronouncements were being based on "cooked intelligence." British intelligence officials were so concerned that, The Independent reports, they kept detailed records of the process. "A smoking gun may well exist over W.M.D., but it may not be to the government's liking," a source said.
U.S. soldiers launched a sweeping manhunt operation: BAGHDAD, June 16 (IslamOnline.net) The U.S. occupation forces in Iraq launched a new manhunt for what they dubbed Saddam’s loyalists in the restive towns and villages in the north and west of Baghdad, as five U.S. soldiers, two seriously, were injured Sunday, June 15, in a fresh resistance operation that coincided with a statement released by the Iraqi resistance and circulated in Baghdad's mosques and streets.
Leading Democrat slams Republican move to close hearings on US' Iraq intelligence from Agence France Presse, 6/12/03
Kucinich: Show Us The Evidence, Mr. President from Truthout, 6/7/03
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), today, led 30 Members of Congress in introducing a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives to force the Administration to turn over the intelligence to back its yet unproven claims that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
White House in Denial from Truthout, by Nicholas Kristof, 6/13/03
Outlines everything that's known about the use of forged documents from Nigeria as evidence of Iraq's nuclear program: "It was well known throughout the intelligence community that it was a forgery," said Melvin Goodman, a former C.I.A. analyst who is now at the Center for International Policy.
Weaponsgate: The coming downfall of lying regimes from Online Journal, 6/13/03
...Bush's "Weaponsgate" will be viewed as more serious than Watergate because 1) U.S. and allied military personnel were killed and injured as a result of the caper; 2) Innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, died in a needless military adventure; and 3) the political effects of the scandal extended far beyond U.S. shores to the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and other countries.
'Whole Family' Dies in Clash with US: Death toll cut from 27 to 7; Mostly civilians killed in clash from Common Dreams, 6/15/03
Depleted Uranium Arms Pose Risks to Troops, Residents from Common Dreams, 6/15/03
The widespread use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. and British forces in Iraq could pose serious health and environmental risks to troops and residents, nuclear and medical experts warned Saturday.
US support in Iraq fades after raids: How one Iraqi's lifelong love for America shattered from The Boston Globe, 6/15/03
CIA officer: Bush ignored warnings [on forged Niger documents] from Knight Ridder, 6/13/03
Making his case for war with Iraq, President Bush in his State of the Union address this year accused Saddam Hussein of trying to buy uranium from Africa, even though the CIA had warned White House and other officials that the story did not check out.
CIA experts on Iraq arms shifted to different jobs: Some say 2 staffers in 'exile' because banned weapons not found from The Los Angeles Times, 6/14/03
US clouds Iraqi civilian deaths from The Boston Globe, 6/13/03
There never was [the promised Pentagon] investigation [into civilian deaths in Iraq]. That fact was embedded (pun intended) in an Associated Press report this week that it has so far counted 3,240 Iraqi civilians killed in the invasion, including nearly 1,900 in Baghdad.
Bush must address lack of WMDs, chaos in Iraq from The Jackson Sun, 6/13/03
American and allied soldiers died fighting against what they believed was an imminent threat to the world's security. It would be unpardonable if they died for any other reason.
U.S. attack threatens to create thousands of new Iraqi enemies from Knight Ridder, 6/13/03
"This town was safe before the Americans come here and made a lot of blood," said Ibrahim. "Is this the democracy they were talking about?"
Fall Guy?: Tenet Blamed for Faulty WMD Intelligence from MSNBC, 6/13/03
It’s not credible to believe Bush and all the bigwigs around him were duped. A more likely explanation is that the administration needed to bolster the nuclear leg of its case.
Iraqi mobile labs nothing to do with germ warfare, report finds from The Observer, 6/15/03
An official British investigation into two trailers found in northern Iraq has concluded they are not mobile germ warfare labs, as was claimed by Tony Blair and President George Bush, but were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, as the Iraqis have continued to insist.
Former Aide Takes Aim at War on Terror from The Washington Post, 6/16/03
"The administration wasn't matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. They're making us less secure, not more secure," said Beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his National Security Council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism.
Resistance to occupation is growing: US and British troops are being sucked into an Iraqi quagmire from The Guardian, 6/13/03
While attention has focused on the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, growing evidence that the war is far from over has been overlooked. Fighting with real weapons is on the increase.
100 Iraqis killed in violent clashes from The Guardian, 6/13/03
Almost 100 Iraqis were killed overnight in two of the bloodiest attacks since the fall of Baghdad.
More Rep. Henry Waxman on Forged Nuclear Evidence (pdf file) 6/12/03
The Administration's new account of why the President cited forged evidence about Iraq's nuclear capabilities in his State of the Union conflicts with known facts and is clearly incomplete.
Rep. Henry Waxman on Forged Nuclear Evidence (pdf file) 6/10/03
In a letter to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Rep. Waxman details contradictions in recent Administration statements about the President's use of forged nuclear evidence in the State of the Union address and urges full disclosure of the relevant facts.
In WMD debate, don't ignore role of Times and an Iraqi exile by Susan Lenfestey, from The Star Tribune, 6/12/03
The media have devoted much ink to the allegations that these WMD, the raison d'être for the Iraq invasion, don't exist. But there are at least two other underreported aspects of the WMD debate: the credibility given to Ahmed Chalabi by the Pentagon and the corroboration of his credibility by the New York Times.
Unproven: The Controversy over Justifying War in Iraq from Fourth Freedom Forum, June 2003
In this report we present the publicly available data that U.S. and UK leaders chose to ignore in the pre-war debate. It provides a clear picture of what could have—and should have—been known and what should have been balanced against other more secretly obtained data on Iraq.... The reason those now searching for weapons are finding only traces, remnants, and precursors is that previous policies of sanctions and UN weapons inspection and destruction actually worked.
100 Names of Civilians Killed - and only 2% of a vital task completed
Since the start of Iraq Body Count project we have been recording names of civilians killed. We have done this whenever names have been given in the media reports which form the sources for our work.
From The Inside Looking Out by Jerry Levin, Christian Peacemaker Teams, 10 June 2003
Professionals, adept at waging war and promoting the proposition that it is an appropriate means for establishing peace, can be counted on to usually promise that peace will follow in war's wake. But once again in Iraq, those professionals are proving how woefully incompetent they are when it comes to waging the peace, which they insist will follow. Street protests and worse continue: tangible demonstrations of Iraqi exasperation and/or impatience with the pace of the occupation's restoration of such vital institutions as: security, education, power, fuel, sanitation, and health.
[POSTER'S NOTE: Mr. Levin was the former CNN station head who was kidnapped in Beruit in the '80s and held hostage for 7 months before he escaped. Jerry Levin is currently in Baghdad.]
Lost from the Baghdad museum: truth by David Aaronovitch, Tuesday June 10, 2003, The Guardian
When, back in mid-April, the news first arrived of the looting at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, words hardly failed anyone. No fewer than 170,000 items had, it was universally reported, been stolen or destroyed, representing a large proportion of Iraq's tangible culture. And it had all happened as some US troops stood by and watched, and others had guarded the oil ministry.
[POSTER'S NOTE: Perhaps we can add a new thing to the list of problems with sanctions, mainly destruction of cultural heritage, if that was not already apparent.]
Republicans Limit Probe of Iraq Intelligence by Vicki Allen, Wed June 11, 2003 04:31 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress on Wednesday rebuffed calls by Democrats for a full-blown investigation into whether the Bush administration misread or inflated the threats posed by Iraq before going to war.
Blix: I was smeared by the Pentagon by Helena Smith in New York, Wednesday June 11, 2003, The Guardian
Hans Blix, the UN chief weapons inspector, lashed out last night at the "bastards" who have tried to undermine him throughout the three years he has held his high-profile post.
CIA didn’t share doubt on Iraq data: Part of Bush claim against Iraq disputed by agency mission by Walter Pincus, THE WASHINGTON POST, 6/12/03
A key component of President Bush’s claim in his State of the Union address last January that Iraq had an active nuclear weapons program — its alleged attempt to buy uranium in Niger — was disputed by a CIA-directed mission to the central African nation in early 2002, according to senior administration officials and a former government official. But the CIA did not pass on the detailed results of its investigation to the White House or other government agencies, the officials said.
All:
For a good set of articles on current and background information of US foreign policy in relation to Iraq, check out Professor Payne's web site. Excellent set of international relations articles. Especially interesting are the intelligence and realist critiques.
Captives Deny Qaeda Worked With Baghdad from Common Dreams, 6/9/03
Two of the highest-ranking leaders of Al Qaeda in American custody have told the C.I.A. in separate interrogations that the terrorist organization did not work jointly with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, according to several intelligence officials.... The Bush administration has not made these statements public, though it frequently highlighted intelligence reports that supported its assertions of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda as it made its case for war against Iraq.
Bush and Blair Have Some 'Splainin' To Do from Common Dreams, 6/8/03
This column has been contacted by a number of retired intelligence officers, both individuals and groups, backing up assertions made here two weeks ago that a cabal of neo-conservatives in President George Bush's administration distorted or faked information that formed the basis of claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that imminently threatened the U.S. and all mankind.
Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offense? by John W. Dean from Common Dreams, 6/6/03
To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment clause.
Blow to Blair over 'mobile labs': Saddam's trucks were for balloons, not germs from The Guardian, 6/8/03
Tony Blair faces a fresh crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, as evidence emerges that two vehicles that he has repeatedly claimed to be Iraqi mobile biological warfare production units are nothing of the sort.
No 10 regret on war dossier from The Observer, 6/8/03
Number 10 officials now admit that the second dossier, which was largely culled from a 13-year-old thesis by a Californian PhD student, is damaging the Government's case for war against Iraq.
The arms hunt: were they weapons of self-delusion? from The Observer, 6/8/03
During the lead-up to war.... [a]nalysts at the CIA, DIA and State Department Intelligence Division said in different papers and at different times that they could find no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda network, and were wary of claims being made over WMD.
Some Analysts of Iraq Trailers Reject Germ Use from Common Dreams, 6/7/03
American and British intelligence analysts with direct access to the evidence are disputing claims that the mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making deadly germs. In interviews over the last week, they said the mobile units were more likely intended for other purposes and charged that the evaluation process had been damaged by a rush to judgment.
I was shocked by poor weapons intelligence - Blix from The Guardian, 6/7/03
The UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, expressed his disappointment yesterday at the quality of the intelligence given to him by the US and Britain before the war with Iraq.
Police station torn down in defiant Falluja from The Guardian, 6/7/03
Iraqis carrying hammers and axes yesterday began to demolish a police station in the troubled city of Falluja in a public act of defiance against the US military.
UN inspectors question claims over Iraqi weapons from The Guardian, 6/7/03
Officials at the Vienna-based international atomic energy authority insisted that, contrary to the prime minister's statement to MPs this week, the only intelligence about attempts to buy uranium from Niger came from documents that were found to be forgeries.
Intelligence chiefs tell Blair: no more spin, no more stunts from The Guardian, 6/5/03
Senior officials in the security and intelligence services made it clear that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq was not as great as ministers suggested.
U.S. Report Raises Doubts About Iraq Weapons from Reuters, 6/6/03
The Bush administration pushed for war against Iraq last fall because of weapons of mass destruction despite a secret Pentagon report it did not have enough "reliable information" Iraq was amassing chemical weapons, a defense official said on Friday.
Some Iraq Analysts Felt Pressure From Cheney Visits from Common Dreams, 6/5/03
Vice President Cheney and his most senior aide made multiple trips to the CIA over the past year to question analysts studying Iraq's weapons programs and alleged links to al Qaeda, creating an environment in which some analysts felt they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush administration's policy objectives, according to senior intelligence officials.
[Bush Administration's Lying =] Standard Operating Procedure from The New York Times, 6/3/03
Recent reports in major British newspapers and three major American news magazines, based on leaks from angry intelligence officials, back up the sources who told my colleague Nicholas Kristof that the Bush administration "grossly manipulated intelligence" about W.M.D.'s.
Where Are the WMDs? Transcripts Raise Alarm Across NATO from The Guardian, 6/2/03
Transcripts of a private conversation between Jack Straw and Colin Powell expressing serious doubts about the reliability of intelligence on Iraq's banned weapons programme are being circulated in western government circles where there is a growing feeling that officials were deceived into supporting the Iraq war.
U.S. Force Said to Kill 15 Iraqis During an Anti-American Rally from The New York Times, 4/30/03
United States soldiers opened fire here today on marchers protesting a clash late Monday night in which 15 anti-American demonstrators were reported killed by American troops. The city's mayor and hospital officials said two protesters were killed in today's incident and 14 were wounded.
Ex-CIA Professionals: Weapons of Mass Distraction: Where? Find? Plant? from Common Dreams, 4/25/03
[W]ere the Bush administration to decide in favor of a planting or similar operation, it would not have to start from scratch as far as experience is concerned. Moreover, many of the historical examples that follow bear an uncanny resemblance to factors and circumstances in play today.
Rumsfeld: Iraqis Free to Form Own Gov't as Long as It is Not an Iranian-Style Theocracy from Common Dreams, 4/24/03
"If you're suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is: That isn't going to happen," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Scientists Urge Shell Clear-Up to Protect Civilians from The Guardian, 4/17/03
Hundreds of tonnes of depleted uranium used by Britain and the United States in Iraq should be removed to protect the civilian population, the Royal Society said yesterday, contradicting Pentagon claims it was not necessary.
For the People on the Streets, This Is Not Liberation... from the Independent, 4/17/03
It's going wrong, faster than anyone could have imagined. The army of "liberation" has already turned into the army of occupation.
Pressure to Find Weapons Mounts from Common Dreams, 4/17/03
Several thousand soldiers in Iraq are now dedicated to the US search, being run by the Defense Department. But so far the mission has been plagued by numerous false readings of suspected chemical and biological materials. Washington's credibility is being eroded further, according to arms specialists, by the continued refusal to include international participation in the search.
Many Iraqis Angry at U.S. from Fox News(!!), 4/17/03
After looters ran wild, American forces shot civilians and the lack of basic services spread misery across the land, many Iraqis turned their anger away from Saddam Hussein and toward what they saw as their new oppressor: the United States of America....
Arianna Huffington: Why the Anti-War Movement Was Right from Common Dreams, 4/16/03
[F]ar from being on the verge of destroying Western civilization, Saddam and his 21st century Gestapo couldn't even muster a half-hearted defense of their own capital. The hawks' cakewalk disproves their own dire warnings. They can't have it both ways. The invasion has proved wildly successful in one other regard: It has unified most of the world -- especially the Arab world -- against us.
Time to Inspect the Home Front from Common Dreams, 4/16/03
"While we're searching for these dangerous weapons in other countries, we have eight major stockpiles right here in the United States," Craig Williams was saying yesterday from Berea, Ky..
Large Protests Greet US-Backed Talks on Post-Saddam Iraq from Common Dreams, 4/15/03
Around 20,000 demonstrators converged on the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah to protest US-brokered talks aimed at sketching out a post-Saddam Hussein administration....
At Least 10 Dead as US Troops in Firefight in Northern Iraq from Common Dreams, 4/15/03
At least 10 people were killed and scores wounded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul when US troops fired on a crowd angered by a speech by the new US-backed governor, witnesses reported.
Library Books, Letters and Priceless Documents Are Set Ablaze.... from The Independent, 4/15/03
So yesterday was the burning of books. First came the looters, then the arsonists. It was the final chapter in the sacking of Baghdad.
Family Struggles to Tell Father That Three Daughters Are Dead from Common Dreams, 4/14/03
[H]e dragged three of his children out. He rushed back into the apartment for the other three. Then the missile exploded. "I still have three more children in the hospital," Mr. Abbas said. That is what everyone has been telling him.
World Anger Rises Over US Protecting Oil Ministry While Museums Ransacked.... from Common Dreams, 4/14/03
In Iraq itself, art experts and ordinary demonstrators made clear they were far angrier at President George Bush than they were at the looters, noting that the only building US forces seemed genuinely interested in protecting was the Ministry of Oil.
Where Now, America? from Common Dreams, 4/12/03
The tanks quickly move to guard the Ministry of Oil, as all other government buildings are looted and destroyed. UN buildings are looted, Red Cross headquarters looted, stores looted, schools looted, museums looted - al-Kindi hospital stripped bare.
Saddam Key in Early CIA Plot from United Press International, 4/10/03
While many have thought that Saddam first became involved with U.S. intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, his first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959....
[Boulder, CO] Area Surgeon Aids Troops from The Daily Camera, 4/5/03
"It really is disgustingly sanitized on television.... We have had a number of really horrific injuries now from the war."
False Claims Litter Iraq Conflict from Reuters, 3/31/03
Scrambling for positive news in the battle against President Saddam Hussein, the two allies have announced a string of successes, only to back away from them later after realizing they were inaccurate or even outright wrong.
Dozens Killed in Baghdad Blast from CBS, 3/28/03
The market was strewn with wreckage and there were bloodstains on a sidewalk. Crowds of mourners wailed and blood-soaked children's slippers sat on the street not far from a crater blasted into the ground.
BBC Chiefs Stress Need to Attribute War Sources from The Guardian, 3/28/03
"We're getting more truth out of Baghdad than the Pentagon at the moment."
The New Humanitarianism... from Strike the Root, 3/31/03
Ever since Iraq's water treatment system was left in shambles by the Gulf War, where the deliberate targeting of the entire electrical power grid caused water pumping to shut down and sewage to fill the streets of Basra, the Iraqi government has scrambled desperately to repair its water system, only to come repeatedly face to face with one huge obstacle: the United States government.
U.N. Official: Fake Iraq Nuke Papers Were Crude from Reuters, 3/26/03
Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a senior official from the U.N. nuclear agency who saw the documents offered as evidence that Iraq tried to buy 500 tons of uranium from Niger, described one as so badly forged his "jaw dropped."
This Is What War Looks Like 3/24/03
She's eight, maybe nine years old. Hair matted, clothes tattered, she hangs limply in the arms of a man who stands before a pile of corpses.
This Is the Reality of War. We Bomb. They Suffer from The Independent, 3/23/03
Donald Rumsfeld says the American attack on Baghdad is "as targeted an air campaign as has ever existed" but he should not try telling that to five-year-old Doha Suheil.
Bush Clings to Dubious Allegations About Iraq from The Washington Post, 3/18/03
As the Bush administration prepares to attack Iraq this week, it is doing so on the basis of a number of allegations against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that have been challenged -- and in some cases disproved -- by the United Nations, European governments and even U.S. intelligence reports.
US diplomat Mary Wright's letter of resignation 3/19/03
This is the only time in my many years serving America that I have felt I cannot represent the policies of an Administration of the United States.
Senator Byrd: The Arrogance of Power 3/19/03
We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.
An Annotated Critique of President George W. Bush's March 17 Address Preparing the Nation for War from The Project Against the Present Danger
Every independent investigation of every Bush administration claim of a connection between the secular Iraqi government and the Islamist al Qaeda network has found no evidence of any Iraqi aid, training, or harboring of al Qaeda terrorists.
Robin Cook's resignation speech from the British House of Commons from The BBC, 3/17/03
Only a year ago, we and the United States were part of a coalition against terrorism that was wider and more diverse than I would ever have imagined possible. History will be astonished at the diplomatic miscalculations that led so quickly to the disintegration of that powerful coalition.
Classified State Department Report: Bush’s Democracy Domino Theory 'Not Credible' from Truthout, 3/14/03
A classified State Department report expresses doubt that installing a new regime in Iraq will foster the spread of democracy in the Middle East, a claim President Bush has made in trying to build support for a war....
Jimmy Carter: Will we just wage war -- or a just war? from The New York Times, 3/9/03
Profound changes have been taking place in American foreign policy, reversing consistent bipartisan commitments that for more than two centuries have earned our nation greatness....
US diplomat John H. Brown's letter of resignation from Waging Peace, 3/14/03
Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force. The president’s disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century.
Target Iraq: Imminent Threat Analysis 3/7/03
A report by Condoleezza Rice's former professor at the University of Denver critically examines the Bush administration's claims regarding the threat posed by Iraq.
US Documents Show Embrace of Saddam Hussein in Early 1980s... from The National Security Archive, 2/25/03
The National Security Archive at George Washington University today published on the Web a series of declassified U.S. documents detailing the U.S. embrace of Saddam Hussein in the early 1980's, including the renewal of diplomatic relations that had been suspended since 1967.
US diplomat John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation 2/24/03
[U]ntil this administration, it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer.
The Salon Interview: Camille Paglia 2/7/03
I'm absolutely appalled at the lack of acknowledgement of the cost to ordinary Iraqi citizens of any incursion by us.... We don't need to invade Iraq.
North Dakota Found to Be Harboring Nuclear Missiles (satire) from The Onion, 2/5/03
The stage was set for another international showdown Monday, when chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix confirmed that the remote, isolationist state of North Dakota is in possession of a large stockpile of nuclear missiles.
Claims and Evaluations of Iraq's Proscribed Weapons from Traprock Peace Center
[N]o evidence has been discovered - after over 7 years of intrusive inspections and 11 years of intelligence gathering - to demonstrate Iraq's retention of stabilised chemical or biological agents.
Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President from The Sunday Herald, 9/15/02
Document reveals the Bush administration planned to use Saddam Hussein as an excuse to take control of Iraq for other reasons. Also read the complete report: "Rebuilding America's Defenses."
Why Invade Iraq? from Voices in the Wilderness
Reviews the July31-August 1, 2002 US Senate hearings on Iraq, in which Senator Richard Lugar was very blunt about the US taking control of Iraq's oil.
